Redating the Mill Iron Site, Montana: A Reexamination of Goshen Complex Chronology

2014 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Waters ◽  
Thomas W. Stafford
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Northern Plains ◽  
Iron Site ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Point Type ◽  
Hell Gap

The Paleoindian Goshen complex occurs in the northern Plains and eastern Rocky Mountains. Since its identification, there has been much discussion about the chronological placement of the Goshen complex. This is especially true because diagnostic Goshen projectile points occur stratigraphically below Folsom artifacts at two sites, and early dates from the Mill Iron site, Montana, and the Hell Gap site, Wyoming, have suggested that this point type might be coeval with Clovis or the very earliest Folsom sites. This report presents new radiocarbon dates from the Mill Iron site, reviews Goshen chronology, and revises the age of the Goshen complex as 10,450 ± 15 to 10,175 ± 40 radiocarbon years B.P.

Points in Time: Direct Radiocarbon Dates on Great Basin Projectile Points

2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey M. Smith ◽  
Pat Barker ◽  
Eugene M. Hattori ◽  
Anan Raymond ◽  
Ted Goebel
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Point Types ◽  
Cross Dating ◽  
Age Estimates

AbstractTypological cross-dating is the primary means by which archaeological sites are placed into chronological frameworks. This approach relies on the assumption that artifacts at undated sites—usually projectile points—are coeval with similar artifacts found at Other, dated sites. While typological cross-dating is necessary in regions dominated by open-air lithic scatters, the approach can be problematic when undated and dated sites are separated by significant distances. Here, we present radiocarbon dates on projectile points with organic hafting material still attached or found within organic storage bags. Our results provide unequivocal ages for various morphological projectile point types at several Great Basin locales and should be useful to researchers seeking local age estimates for those point types, which often involves relying on chronological data from more distant sites. The results also highlight potential issues with uncritically applying typological cross-dating using typologies based on metric attributes, and in two cases, suggest the need to revise the age ranges for certain point styles in the western Great Basin.

New excavations at the late Pleistocene site of Chinchihuapi I, Chile

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom D. Dillehay ◽  
Carlos Ocampo ◽  
Jose Saavedra ◽  
Mario Pino ◽  
Linda Scott-Cummings ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Occupied Site ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Central Chile ◽  
South Central ◽  
Cool Temperate ◽  
Human Use ◽  
Monte Verde ◽  
Point Type

AbstractThis paper presents new excavation data on the Chinchihuapi I (CH-I) locality within the Monte Verde site complex, located along Chinchihuapi Creek in the cool, temperate Valdivian rain forest of south-central Chile. The 2017 and 2018 archaeological excavations carried out in this open-air locality reveal further that CH-I is an intermittently occupied site dating from the Early Holocene (~10,000 cal yr BP) to the late Pleistocene (at least ~14,500 cal yr BP) and probably earlier. A new series of radiocarbon dates refines the chronology of human use of the site during this period. In this paper, we describe the archaeological and stratigraphic contexts of the recent excavations and analyze the recovered artifact assemblages. A fragmented Monte Verde II point type on an exotic quartz newly recovered from excavations at CH-I indicates that this biface design existed in at least two areas of the wider site complex ~14,500 cal yr BP. In addition, associated with the early Holocene component at CH-I are later Paijan-like points recovered with lithic tools and debris and other materials. We discuss the geographic distribution of diagnostic artifacts from the site and their probable relationship to other early sites in South America.

Radiocarbon Dates from an Early Archaic Deposit in Russell Cave, Alabama

1957 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-84
Author(s):  
Carl F. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Jackson County ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Early Archaic

During recent excavations in the archaeological deposits in Russell Cave, Jackson County, Alabama (Miller 1956), we reached a depth of 13 feet. From this level we collected a large sample of charcoal found in association with chert projectile points whose shape suggests a placement at the end of paleo-Indian times and the beginning of early Archaic times.

The Folsom (Paleoindian) Type Site: Past Investigations, Current Studies

2002 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Meltzer ◽  
Lawrence C. Todd ◽  
Vance T. Holliday
Keyword(s):  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Wild Horse ◽  
Field Investigations ◽  
Type Site ◽  
High Utility ◽  
Cultural Origins

Research on the Folsom Paleoindian type site, involving renewed field investigations and an analysis of extant collections from the 1920s excavations, was undertaken between 1997 and 2000. The preliminary results of that research show that all excavations to date have been in the kill area, which took place in a small and relatively shallow tributary to the Pleistocene paleovalley of Wild Horse Arroyo as well as in the paleovalley itself. Preliminary butchering of ∼32 Bison antiquus took place near where the animals were dropped. The kill area is dominated by low-utility bone elements and broken projectile points; high-utility bones and tools for processing meat and hides are rare or absent, and either occur in another, as-yet undiscovered area of the site, or altogether off-site. Faunal remains are generally in excellent condition. Those in the tributary are mostly in primary context, and underwent rapid burial beneath fine-grained (dominantly aeolian) sediments, which in turn were subsequently armored by a shingle shale; those in the paleovalley experienced postdepositional transport and redeposition. The small lithic assemblage is dominated by projectile points and comprised of material mostly from two sources in the Texas panhandle, several hundred kilometers southeast of the site. It also includes stone obtained from sources at comparable distances north and northwest of the site. A series of radiocarbon ages is available for the stratigraphic units, nearly all from charcoal of non-cultural origins; radiocarbon dates on bison bone put the age of the kill at 10,500 B.P.

The Earliest Cultures in the Western United States

1962 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex D. Krieger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Chipped Stone ◽  
Point Types ◽  
Geological Position

AbstractNearly all writers on the antiquity of man in America assume that the oldest archaeological sites contain chipped-stone projectile points and therefore cannot exceed an age of some 12,000 to 15,000 years, the estimates usually given to such projectile-point types as Sandia and Clovis. Suggestions of older sites, with radiocarbon dates ranging from some 21,000 years to as much as “greater than 37,000 years,” with simpler artifacts and an absence of stone projectile points, are generally viewed with suspicion if not abhorrence.A recent paper by E. H. Sellards considers seven localities in the western United States and Baja California which, because of geological position and radiocarbon dates, are probably too old to contain stone projectile points. The writer agrees with Sellards that these localities are archaeological (except for that at Texas Street in San Diego, California), but disagrees that those in coastal locations are different from those in inland locations for “ecological” reasons such as food supply and availability of stone. The differences may be explained in that those sites on the shores of extinct lakes were never covered by overburden, whereas those which were covered by alluvium or sand are known to us now only by varying amounts of exposure by erosion or excavation (or both).

SOME ASPECTS OF QUATERNARY SOILS IN CANADA

1987 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. W. G. VALENTINE ◽  
C. TARNOCAI ◽  
C. R. DE KIMPE ◽  
R. H. KING ◽  
J. F. DORMAAR ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Quaternary Period ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Southern Rocky Mountains ◽  
Peat Deposits ◽  
Quaternary Stratigraphy ◽  
Canadian Soils

This review describes some aspects of Canadian soils that are relevant to the Quaternary. It includes a description of the Quaternary Period in Canada, including a chronology of the major events that influenced soil formation, and the implication of the Quaternary to Canadian soils. The contribution of relict and buried paleosols to Quaternary stratigraphy and the reconstruction of paleoenvironments is then discussed, including some of the inherent problems. Pedologic evidence of environmental change in the southern Rocky Mountains, including tephrostratigraphy, is followed by a description, with numerous radiocarbon dates, of Holocene peat deposits. The review concludes with a discussion of weathering and saprolites in eastern Canada. Key words: Quaternary, Holocene, paleosols, stratigraphy, paleoenvironments, peat

Bibliography of Primary Sources for Radiocarbon Dates

1959 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. McNutt ◽  
Richard P. Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Smithsonian Institution ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Northern Plains ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Dating Methods

A chronology program was launched in December, 1957, by the Missouri Basin Project of the Smithsonian Institution for the purpose of testing culture sequences in the Central and Northern Plains and contiguous regions. The Missouri Basin Chronology Program envisages (a) assembling all relevant chronological data in hand and (b) selecting materials for analysis by the various dating methods. The Missouri Basin Project acts as coordinator of the program; it has received enthusiastic response and is now cooperating with a dozen institutions in the area engaged in archaeological research.

scholarly journals The introduction of the bow and arrow in the Argentine Andes (29–34º S): A preliminary metric approximation

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Celeste Castro ◽  
Lucía Yebra ◽  
Erik Marsh ◽  
Valeria Cortegoso ◽  
Gustavo Lucero
Keyword(s):  
Maximum Width ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Weapon Systems ◽  
European Contact ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
Bow And Arrow ◽  
Metric Approximation ◽  
Reduced Mobility

The study size patterns in projectile points (n=39) from six sites in the Argentine Andes (29–34°S) associated with 17 radiocarbon dates with medians spanning 3080–470 cal BP. This is the region’s first attempt to metrically distinguish arrows and darts, which is based on shoulder or maximum width, following Shott. The northern part of the study area (29°S) includes the earliest arrow point, slightly after 3080 cal BP. This suggests a rapid spread of this technology from the central Andes 16–26°S, where early arrows are dated ~3500–3000 cal BP. However, at 32 and 34°S, arrows are not clearly present until 1280 cal BP. For 1280–400 cal BP (European contact), 96% of points were identified as arrows, suggesting the bow and arrow replaced spear-based weapon systems. A single late dart from 34°S may reflect a late use of this space by hunter-gatherers. The predominance of arrows beginning at 1280 cal BP is associated with broader changes such as demographic growth, reduced mobility, low-level food production, and herding economies, following similar trends in other regions.

Aspects of Culture Change in the Late Prehistoric Period on the Northwestern Plains

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-332
Author(s):  
Caroline R. Hudecek-Cuffe
Keyword(s):  
Culture Change ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Stylistic Variation ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Late Prehistoric Period ◽  
Northwestern Plains ◽  
Point Types ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Point Type

Stylistic and temporal differences in projectile points have long been used by Plains archaeologists to establish chronologies of cultural complexes for the Northern Plains. This practice is often extended to using changes in projectile point types as indicators of culture change. However, since culture is a multivariate phenomenon, culture change cannot be based on a single variable such as a projectile point type, but rather, all aspects of culture as represented in the archaeological record must be considered. With regards to the culture changes between the Avonlea and Old Women's phases of the Late Prehistoric Period on the Northwestern Plains, archaeological evidence of lithic and ceramic assemblages indicates a general continuity between the two phases rather than a distinct break. Thus, any differences between the two phases should not be regarded as involving major culture change but rather as a sequential transition with gradual stylistic variation in projectile points and ceramics.

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